Dog club official faces theft charge

Thursday

Aug 30, 2007 at 4:16 AM

By LISA A. DAVIS THE TAMPA TRIBUNE

WESLEY CHAPEL -- They gave her the authority to sign checks on behalf of cocker spaniel lovers nationwide. But instead, American Spaniel Club officials say, their treasurer wiped their operating account clean.

Now, Barbara Jean Lippincott, a 54-year-old assistant professor at the University of Tampa, stands accused of bilking the nonprofit organization out of more than $100,000 to support her online gambling habit.

She turned herself in to Pasco sheriff's deputies Tuesday evening to face a charge of grand theft and was released from the Land O' Lakes jail early Wednesday after posting $5,000 bail.

As treasurer for the spaniel association, which boasts some 400 members worldwide, Lippincott wrote 71 checks from the club's bank account to herself between July 3, 2006 and March 22, Sheriff's Office reports state.

She used the money, according to Tobin, to feed her addiction to Internet video slot games. The house in Wesley Chapel she shared with her husband, Charles, is currently in foreclosure, court records state.

Lippincott, who now lives in Thonotosassa, could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Her attorney, Tim Owens, says he is not sure whether his client has a gambling addiction, though he concedes she has some sort of issue.

"I know that she has taken steps to help her problem," he said, declining to elaborate.

In March, Tobin said, Lippincott admitted her actions to her husband and, after hiring Owens, they told club leadership and offered to make monthly payments. But club officials went to authorities after realizing exactly how much was missing -- at least $107,000 and perhaps as much as $125,000.

"She's doing the best that she can, and all along she's been trying to make things right," Owens said, stressing that Lippincott was the one who first brought the situation to light.

Linda Moore, the club's legal adviser, said Wednesday that the board of directors elected Lippincott as treasurer about five years ago.

"She was a trusted person who for years had faithfully performed her duties," Moore said. "It was shocking to have her violate that trust."

Around the same time Lippincott's attorney contacted club officials, Moore said, another member, the wife of the former club president, reported that she received an expense check from the treasurer and it bounced.

"They immediately knew something was wrong," Moore said from her office in Dallas.

They did not know just how wrong. The operating fund was gone and they suspect more money is missing from an investment fund, Moore said.

Incorporated in New York, the club promotes breed standards, rescues dogs and holds shows at least twice annually. The missing money presented challenges when the group learned of it only a couple of months before a show.

But, Moore said, generous members and others donated to the cause, and fundraisers boosted the account.

"We're basically back up on our feet and running again," she said.

According to the club's Web site, the board sustained ethics charges against Lippincott, levied a fine and suspended her. The board now is recommending she be expelled from the club, and the membership will decide that in a January vote.

The club president said in an online message that the organization has insurance, but that it only covers up to $75,000 in lost funding. (To read the entire text of the statement, go to www.asc-cockerspaniel.org.)

Lippincott, who taught accounting, has been placed on administrative leave from her university job, pending the outcome of the case, said UT spokesman Eric Cardenas. A class scheduled for Wednesday was canceled, he said, and other professors will cover the remainder of her classes indefinitely.

"There's nothing we can say about it really right now," Cardenas said, adding the case is being reviewed by school administrators.

Pasco detectives are continuing their investigation.

Online gambling has become an easy temptation for those looking for escape -- especially women, said Tom Talley, a national certified gambling counselor and family intervention specialist who works for Windmoor Healthcare of Clearwater and Gamblers Anonymous.

"It's a silent type gambling because you can do it in your bedroom. You can do it at home," he said. "You don't have to lie about where you are. You don't have to go to Vegas. You don't have to park your car."

That makes it easy to hide, Talley said.

And that appeared to be the case with Lippincott and her husband, a University of South Florida assistant professor.

"When she told him, he had no idea," Tobin said.

As online gambling continues to grow, so do the number of addicts, and more women than ever are landing at rock bottom, on average spending $60,000 before that happens, Talley said.

"It's scary because people are taking their lives over it," he said. "It's a sickness. It's not about winning or losing; it's an escape."